This invention relates to a leaf guard and strainer assembly adapted for insertion into the upper end of a gutter downspout to barricade the downspout against the introduction of leaves and other debris therein while permitting snow melt, rain water and other liquids to drain from the gutter into the downspout.
Broadly speaking, such assemblies in various forms have long been known and used in the prior art. See, for example, the various devices disclosed in the following patents: U.S. Pat. No. 4,285,812 issued to R. J. Stoltz on Aug. 25, 1981; U.S. Pat. No. 3,121,684 issued to H. C. Bugbird on Feb. 18, 1964; U.S. Pat. No. 2,669,197 issued to T. Van Duzer on Feb. 16, 1954; U.S. Pat. No. 2,640,593 issued to H. C. Korb on Jun. 2, 1953; U.S. Pat. No. 2,360,793 issued to M. Rachlin on Oct. 17, 1944; U.S. Pat. No. 2,070,500 issued to A. S. Wahl on Feb. 9, 1937; U.S. Pat. No. 2,059,071 issued to C. L. Weyand on Oct. 27, 1936; and U.S. Pat. No. 1,811,728 issued to R. Mc Kee on Jun. 23, 1931.
All of these prior art assemblies feature a wire frame leaf cage for preventing leaves and debris from entering and clogging a gutter downspout. The wires or straps which form the frames in each case are spaced apart to allow water to pass through the cage into downspout. The wires are also arranged in either a cylindrical or cone shaped configuration so as to insert into the downspout opening in the floor of a gutter and so as to form a barricade against the flow of leaves and debris into the downspout from all directions around the downspout opening.
The single exception to the previously described construction is the gutter strainer shown in the patent to Van Duzer which is constructed of a wire mesh. This strainer features an elongated mesh sheet placed on a slope on a gutter floor extending in one direction away from a downspout opening which is located near the end of a gutter trough. A second feature of this strainer is a bendable, meshed rectangular strainer plate attached to one end of the elongated sheet which may be bent and inserted as a leaf trap and water strainer within the downspout entrance itself It is said that leaves and other debris will be carried by water in the gutter onto the lower end of the elongated member where debris accumulation will occur along its sloping surface away from the downspout entrance.
Unfortunately, in all of the previously cited examples, leaves and other debris can eventually accumulate completely around the downspout opening to such an extent as to effectively block the flow of water into the downspout and thus cause water to overflow the outer gutter wall. By means of my invention, these and other difficulties encountered using prior art gutter downspout strainers and leaf guards are substantially overcome.